tales of work, unemployment and those activities in between

Pro Tips: Nobody Can Read Minds

I am being perfectly serious when I say that the management flaw that I observe the most often is that managers believe that their employees are psychic.

Mind reading, while awesome in theory is not only impossible, but impractical. Let’s focus our energies elsewhere, such as on instantaneous site-to-site transportation.

In the meantime, let’s focus on productive, healthy practices for improving communications. There are many resources out there that I have read about, there are a million different tactics for healthy, open, efficient communications. Everything depends on developing systems that people will really use and that are clear and easily accessible.

I don’t have value judgments about the efficacy and usefullness of : daily meetings, weekly meetings, morning email check-ins, using g-chat, to-do lists with task assignments, and the like. I think they could all work, in the right context.

What I have a problem with is: hoarding information and tasks, expecting that people have information that you have not shared out, people who are afraid of technology (either because they won’t learn a new tool or because they think a robot will take their job), people who manage by manipulating rather than by communicating openly, people who communicate in an unclear manner, people who lie, people who are indecisive, and people who manage through creating competition rather than collaboration.

Seriously, we have to learn how to communicate better. Nobody can read minds, and to expect this is disrespectful to your staff and maybe a little bit crazy.